


Stories for 2021 Writing Challenge

by boredbrooder



Category: Loki - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:00:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29935167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boredbrooder/pseuds/boredbrooder
Summary: I have taken seven prompts suggested by fans and friends to form seven stories over seven days.  Each story is united by the same two characters, Loki and Marin.  Please enjoy their adventures.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 4





	1. Day One: Introductions

Day 1: Introductions  
AHeckin’Mess: “I sense and adventure!” “Yeah? I sense a restraining order.”

Loki  
He's a young prince troubled by restlessness. He travels to Alfheim and hears of a gathering. He steals a precious jewel, not for its value or because he desires treasure, but because he wants to watch the chaos when it comes up missing. 

For years, Loki tried to fill his role as second prince, until the restlessness drove him to seek adventure through the cosmos. Meeting Marin only makes the adventures more interesting. 

Marin  
She's a young woman, daughter of an elf laird, and blind. Her whole life, she's been told she's weak, frail, sickly, and hidden away "for protection". But her father has a secret. Long ago, an ancestor had a love affair with a dark elf and soiled the light elf lineage. They've been able to hide it through breeding, but every few generations, a child is born with dark elf traits. The laird isn't hiding her because of her blindness or supposed illness, but because of her white-blond hair and ice-blue eyes. 

For years, Marin bought into the lie of her sickliness until a prince stole from her father. Meeting Loki gives her an opportunity to break free and discover what she's really capable of.

**********

The grand house was buzzing with activity. It’s expected of a laird. He had many responsibilities to fulfill. So his daughter was once again shunted to the side.

“Vitri, can’t we stay out a little longer? It’s warm and sunny and pleasant,” Marin pleaded.

“No, child. Your skin is too delicate. Your father would never forgive me if I let you burn.” Vitri held the parasol carefully over the young woman’s head as she escorted her charge inside.

“The guests are already here. I can hear them!” Marin enthused. “Will father permit me to greet any of them?”

“I wouldn’t count on it. You know how excitement wears on your nerves. Warm milk and a nap are what you need after the excitement of the garden.” Vitri led her into her room and carefully sat her down in a chair by the window.

“But I’m not tired. The excitement in the house will make it impossible to sleep,” Marin complained as she removed her shawl.

“Warm milk will help, it always does.” Or so the nurse-maid thought. Marin heard the clink of the glass of milk placed gently on the little table and the soft hush of fabric when a servant bowed respectfully. 

“Thank you,” Marin said despite the servant not announcing herself. Vitri was quiet while Marin sipped the milk, but she could feel the older woman hovering. She drank quickly so Vitri would be satisfied.

“You drank all of it? Good girl. Now, let’s get you into bed.” She reached for Marin, but the young woman was already standing and starting to cross the room. “Careful! You’ll hurt yourself. You know I can guide you better than you can guide yourself.”

“Vitri, I’ve made the walk a thousand times. I know it well,” Marin complained, but she let her nurse-maid take control and tuck her into bed.

“There, safe and snug,” Vitri said indulgently. “You sleep for a couple of hours and I’ll come back to check on you.”

“Yes, Vitri, thank you. Good night.” Marin listened carefully for Vitri to leave and the gentle click of the door closing shut, then she scrambled out of bed and reached under it. There, she found her notebook and pen. Well, the pen had no ink, but it needed none. Marin only needed it to scratch into the paper so she could feel the markings. She sat on her bed writing prose instead of napping.

\----  
Loki could feel the excitement in the air. His youth showed on his features, but he blended well with the long-limbed elfs. He’d heard of a valuable trinket that would be here today. All he needed to do was avoid being noticed and it could be his.

“Ladies and Lords, welcome to my home. Many of you have traveled from distant towns and villages to dine with us this evening. We hope you find it worth your while.” The speaker was of middle age and dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, just like most of the guests. Luckily for Loki, some had black hair or medium brown hair, so his black hair didn’t stand out.

“Some of us have come a lot farther than that,” he whispered under his breath, scanning for his prize. A sparkle of gold caught his eye. That’s it! He made no sudden movements as he slipped between the guests. As a prince, he knew all the social etiquette so he wouldn’t draw attention to himself.

“... the largest cut tanzanite on Alfheim,” an old man was explaining to a couple of younger guests. “Been in the family for generations. It never leaves my side.”

We’ll see about that, Loki thought as he listened. He could be patient. He could bide his time until it was right to make his move.

\----  
A brief noise against her door caused Marin to cram her book under her pillow and lay down, feigning sleep. It was too soon for Vitri to come check on her, unless something was wrong. She heard the soft click of the door latch, the hum of the guests in the hall, the click again and silence. Marin stayed still and quiet. This was not Vitri.

Loki slipped into a nearby room with a closed door, only to stop short and stare at the back of a woman in a bed. Sleeping this time of day, she must be sick… or elderly, since she had white hair. Loki held his breath and watched the rising and falling of her breathing. His entrance didn’t wake her. He pocketed the trinket and paced to the window. Stealth was key so as not to wake her.

“You shouldn’t be in here,” Marin said sternly. Loki froze in place and turned slowly toward the woman. She still looked to be asleep, but she definitely spoke. Perhaps if he didn’t answer, she would think she was alone after all. Loki activated full stealth mode and sank back into the closet.

Marin heard the soft ruffle of fabric telling her exactly where the intruder was hiding. “You can’t hide from me. You’re in the closet.” She sat up slowly and turned toward the main room. “Why are you hiding in here instead of mingling with father’s other guests?”

Loki was intrigued. He stepped out of the closet again. “You live here? Then I’m very sorry for the trouble I’m about to cause.” As if on cue, someone screamed in the hall.

“The tanzanite! It’s missing! Where’s my pendant?” Even the solid wood door couldn’t keep out that panicked cry. Marin turned her head to hear as much as she could. Loki moved closer to the window, grinning like a fool.

“Stand still!” Marin ordered. Her tone was sharp enough to startle even herself. Loki did stop. “You know about it, don’t you? Is that why you’re in here?”

“So what now, elfling? Are you going to turn me in? People could get hurt.” Loki cloaked his discomfort with a threatening tone.

“You wouldn’t hurt an invalid,” Marin recoiled. The door flung open and two of the laird’s guards entered. The screaming and running outside the room made Loki’s heart race. The panic rolling off these two men smelled delicious.

“Excuse us, m’lady. We must intrude. There is a thief in our midst,” One of them explained. Marin waited for them to drag the intruder out. He was standing right next to her chair by the window. She grew more confused as the guards searched various places in her room. “He’s not here. Sorry to have bothered you, m’lady.” They closed the door and shut out some of the sounds of chaos again.

Marin and Loki both waited silently for a moment. She hadn’t ratted him out and he hadn’t taken her hostage… yet. Marin moved first. She slid off her bed and padded over to where she knew Loki was standing, to where his footsteps last ended, to where she could hear the faint sounds of his breathing. “They didn’t see you. Why?”

Loki watched her come ever closer, right up until they were almost touching. Only then did he realize her condition. “You can’t see me either.”

“I can’t see anything,” Marin scoffed. At this distance, it should be obvious.

“That’s why you could find me. You weren’t looking for me. You were listening.” Loki studied the pale and foggy blue eyes. “They were looking, so they didn’t find me. I am cloaked.”

“Cloaked?” She ran a hand down his arm and felt only his leather sleeve. “With magic?”

“Yes. Is this why you call yourself invalid?” Loki reasoned.

“No. I’m sick, frail, weak. A blind invalid would make the perfect hostage,” she surmises.

“Indeed, so what’s to stop me from doing just that?” Loki asks. She could feel his breath on her face, smell the cake he’d recently eaten.

“My father treasures me. I’m never more than a few feet from a guard or servant,” Marin warned. “There’s one outside my door and one below this window.”

Loki put his hands on her thin arms, only the thinnest fabric between their skin. “Well, I’ll just have to gag you with my handkerchief and throw you over my shoulder. One punch will knock out the guard and it’s a short sprint to freedom.” A tremble ran down Marin’s spine, whether from fear or excitement she did not know. Loki saw the little reaction and felt similar confusion.

The door opened again and Vitri’s familiar footsteps entered. “There you are! Safe and sound. Did the commotion wake you? Don’t worry, child. We’ll keep you safe.” Marin was standing right in front of the man causing all the mischief, yet the nurse-maid couldn’t see him. Someone called Vitri’s name outside the room. “Stay here, child. We’ll get to the bottom of this. Stay in your room, it’s the safest place for you.” Vitri left again.

“Well, isn’t this interesting,” Loki purred with intrigue. “The only person I can’t hide from doesn’t turn me in. I sense an adventure.”

“I sense a restraining order. All I have to do is call the guards,” Marin threatened.

“We both know you won’t do that,” Loki countered.

“Just like we both know you won’t kidnap me?” Marin countered.

“You’ve had two opportunities to turn me in thus far and you haven’t. Why is that?” Loki looked out the window. First floor, hardly a fall at all.

“I’m sick, frail. Can’t do anything for myself,” Marin recited without conviction what she’d been told her whole life.

“Funny, you don’t look sick. Pale, perhaps. Do you get much sun?” He looked up and down the path under the window. Guards were already searching the perimeter.

“I sit by the window every day,” Marin confessed. Is her frustration sneaking into her voice?

“Facing the sun and feeling the sun are far from the same,” Loki reasoned. He moved away from the window back to the door. Marin, hearing him rustle, moved out of the way.

“Don’t I know it.” One of her favorite moments was on her walks in the garden when she could get far enough from the parasol to feel the sun on her skin. Loki opened the door a crack and let the sounds of the search play like music in his ears. “Are you enjoying this? Why did you steal that pendant?”

He closed the door before answering. “I am enjoying this. Does it bother you? That a man steals not for wealth or treasure but for excitement?”

“I could use some excitement,” Marin mumbled.

“Like I said, I sense an adventure!” Loki grinned.


	2. Day Two: Beginnings

Day 2: Beginnings  
AHeckin’Mess: first time

Loki  
He's a young prince troubled by restlessness. He travels to Alfheim and hears of a gathering. He steals a precious jewel, not for its value or because he desires treasure, but because he wants to watch the chaos when it comes up missing. 

For years, Loki tried to fill his role as second prince, until the restlessness drove him to seek adventure through the cosmos. Meeting Marin only makes the adventures more interesting. 

Marin  
She's a young woman, daughter of an elf laird, and blind. Her whole life, she's been told she's weak, frail, sickly, and hidden away "for protection". But her father has a secret. Long ago, an ancestor had a love affair with a dark elf and soiled the light elf lineage. They've been able to hide it through breeding, but every few generations, a child is born with dark elf traits. The laird isn't hiding her because of her blindness or supposed illness, but because of her white-blond hair and ice-blue eyes. 

For years, Marin bought into the lie of her sickliness until a prince stole from her father. Meeting Loki gives her an opportunity to break free and discover what she's really capable of.

********** 

Marin squirmed, keeping her hand on Loki’s shoulder. His skin was remarkably smooth and soft, but the muscles underneath were firm and well-formed.

“Relax, elfling, I’m not going to hurt you,” Loki chuckled.

“You’ve been promising that since our second meeting, ever since you made that escape from this very room,” Marin recalled.

“And it hasn’t been a lie yet,” Loki agreed. “So relax.”

“We’re in my room and on my bed, but you are a complete mystery to me. I’ve never encountered a man’s body before!” Marin explained awkwardly.

“Is that what’s bothering you? Then explore and learn more.” Loki leaned back on his elbows to expose more of his body.

“That’s all you’ve been saying to me since we met. How many times have you snuck into my room now?” She pulled her legs under herself and let her hand on Loki’s shoulder guide her with him as he laid back. She moved her hand down his chest until she reached his nipple. “So men have these, too.”

“Nipples? Yes, quite sensitive.” He trembled but held still under her touch. “I’d say I’ve been sneaking in for a few months now. Have we reached a hundred visits?”

“I have the answer in my notebook.” She stroked her hands toward the center of his chest, over his heart, and lingered over a scattering of hair. “Hair on your chest?”

“Yes.” Loki put his hand over hers, liking it there. “Why did you make your own alphabet?”

“No one expects a blind girl can read when she can’t see the letters. So I taught myself. But no one would teach me the letters, so I made my own.” She stroked the chest hairs, then pulled her hand from under Loki’s and down his abdomen. She ran her fingers from side to side until she found the width of his body. “I like the way you feel.”

“I always said you’re smarter than they give you credit for.” Loki let out a soft moan at her gentle touch. “Keep going. It gets better.”

Marin stroked down his side and his leg. “Your hips are different from mine.” 

Loki drew his leg up to help her reach all the way to his foot. “Yours are meant for different purposes than mine. Remember when we snuck away to your father’s garden and you moved that flower pot?”

“Yeah. Your feet feel like mine. Maybe a little longer and veinier.” She stroked back up the leg to the thigh, but stopped. Her education did include which parts of the body were to be kept to oneself.

“You carried it on your hip. I would have carried it on my chest and arms.” He gasped when Marin’s hand came too close. “Don’t stop there, darling. You’ll miss the best part.” He reached for her hand and moved it for her.

Marin tensed when he guided her hand toward the private area. “Vitri said that area’s not for sharing.” She felt the thick patch of hair, the long appendage, the squishy dangling bits.

“Vitri is right, of course. On most accounts. But that’s the area I’m most eager to share with you tonight.” His voice became tight and raspy as he guided her touch.

“Wait! This part feels… weird… different… very much not like mine.” Instinctively, she wrapped her fingers around the shaft. “No, I don’t like this!” Her trembling increased and she pulled her hand away and leaned back, worry wrinkling her face.

“Shh, don’t be scared. Where’s the brave woman who let a thief hide in her room?” Loki moved over her now, stroking her arm, her breast, her side. “I think I know how to help you relax. Do you trust me?”

Still trembling, Marin nodded. She pulled him in for another kiss.

“Lie back then, get comfortable.” Still trembling, Marin wiggled to get under the covers. It was a bit awkward moving the sheets with the two bodies on top. She giggled. “Alright, we’ll do this under the covers.”

When they were both comfortable, Loki began. He kissed from her lips, down between her cleavage, over her belly button, to her mound. Marin gasped when he reached her private area. It was her area not to be shared, and yet all she wanted to do was share it with him.

Then there was tongue. It was shallow, over her labia. Then it was deep, prying at a hole. Then it was on the most sensitive spot, swirling and tapping and licking. Marin squirmed, struggling to hold her hips still. Several new kinds of sounds came from her mouth while Loki created strange sounds from his tongue between her legs.

“Marin? Are you alright, child?” Vitri struck her head through the door with concern in her voice. Marin gasped and sat up nervously. She hadn’t even heard her nurse-maid open the door.

“Uh! Vitri! I’m alright. It was just… a bad dream.” Her heart clenched.

“Bad dream? Well, you’re alright now. I’ll get you a glass of warm milk.” Vitri turned to close the door as she spoke.

“No!” Marin gasped. “I mean… uh… can I have some spiced anuahi instead? I haven’t had it for months.”

Vitri sighed but nodded. “Alright, child. If it’ll help you sleep.” Marin listened for the click of the door before she relaxed. But it was short-lived! Loki pulled her back down by the hips and resumed his tongue torture.

“Loki!” she whimpered. “I lied. I never lied to her before.”

“You’re fine. You’re supposed to be relaxing.” Loki spat out between licks.

“Loki!” she snapped. “It takes twenty minutes to make spice anuahi.”

“Then you’d better relax quickly.” Marin whined with frustration as she tried to relax.

It took a few minutes more before Marin whined again. “Loki, it’s getting harder to relax. What’s happening? I think I might break!” Loki did not relent. “Loki! Loooookkkkkiiiiii!” Her whole body tensed and pleasure washed through her. She panted hard as she tried to regain her senses.

“So, do you like breaking, elfling?” Loki asked, lifting his head from the covers. Marin could only respond with a nod. “It’s alright, I’ve got you. That’s called an orgasm.” He crawled up her body and laid next to her.

Marin instinctively curled into him. “Orgasm…” she repeated. “I liked it.”

“So did I. You taste good.” Marin squeaked at that.

“You tasted me?” She blushed in her pale cheeks. But her curiosity overrode her embarrassment. “What did I taste like?”

“Wouldn’t you like to see for yourself?” Marin only had a moment to be confused. Loki kissed her and she could taste the sweetness on his lips. She moaned her pleasure. “So you like that? Aren’t you a naughty one.”

“No, don’t say that. I don’t want to be naughty.” She whined, recoiling a little.

“No? Then what do you want to be?” Loki asked tenderly, pulling her closer.

“I want to be strong, confident, adventurous,” she considered slowly.

“All that? Well, I think I can help. You’re already more adventurous than when we first met.” He stroked over her round butt cheeks while they spoke so she wouldn’t forget that there’s more.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” she admitted.

“So are you ready for another adventure… or rather, a continuation of this one?” Loki asked with a wink.

“I don’t know? How much time has passed? Vitri should be back soon. You can’t be under the covers while she’s here.” Marin turned her head to try and listen to the other side of her heavy door.

“Why not? It worked last time.” The mischief was strong in his tone.

“Last time, she was here for a moment and stayed by the door. When she returns, she’ll sit on the bed and find you for sure.” Loki kissed her forehead soothingly.

“Alright, but when she’s gone, you’re all mine.” Loki slipped from under the covers and onto the floor behind the bed.

“Marin?” Marin heard the click of the door preceding her entrance. “I’ve got your anuahi. Are you ready?”

“Yes, Vitri. Thank you.” She sat up in bed with her knees up. Vitri lifted Marin’s hand to put the warm cup in it.

“I put an ice cube in it so you wouldn’t burn your mouth.” Vitri explained kindly. Marin wished she hadn’t, but she didn’t say as much. She understood Vitri meant it in kindness.

“That’s kind of you.” She drank as fast as she reasonably could, hoping Vitri would leave before she discovered Loki. “Thank you, Vitri. It was delicious. Just what I needed.”

“Alright, now, child. Back to sleep with you.” Vitri took the cup and tucked Marin in again. The young woman snuggled down into the sheets and tried to look ready for sleep.

“Good night, Vitri.” She closed her eyes and listened. Vitri picked up the cup. Her footsteps told Marin she went over by the table and rustled some papers. Then she finally left. Marin waited another moment to be sure she was completely alone. “Ok, Loki.”

Loki leapt from the floor and onto the bed, laying next to her again. “She really does hover, doesn’t she?”

“It’s either her nature, or her job. I’m used to it.” Marin rolled her eyes as she explained.

“Well, it’s my turn to hover.” He rolled over on top of her and held himself up on his hands.

“Oh my! I like this kind of hovering!” She stared up at the darkness where Loki’s face should be. Loki stared down at her innocent blush.

“Are you ready? Like pieces of a puzzle.” He reached between them.

“What’s a puzzle?” She asked uncertainly.

“This.” All in one go, Loki slid into her in one fluid motion. Marin gasped at the small pinch and sudden fullness. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah. I think so. Is this what a puzzle feels like?” She stroked his back to help ground herself in this new situation.

“Well, I hope it feels better than a puzzle. And you know what? It’s about to feel even better.” He thrust once to show her what he meant. She gasped as pleasure rolled through her from his hips.

“Loki! Wow! We have to be careful of Vitri.” Loki smirked at her.

“Then you’ll have to be extra quiet.” He rolled his hips again, making her gasp again. “Now, it’s about to get more intense.”

Intense was right! Pleasure rolled through her, starting with her most private parts. Each thrust was a new wave that drove her closer and closer to breaking again. She moved her hands from Loki’s back to his face, then his hair. When he increased the pace, she fisted his hair for anchoring. When her efforts to keep quiet got more difficult, she put one hand over her mouth to help.

“Break, elfling, and I’ll break with you,” Loki encouraged, his own pleasure so intense inside her tight channel.

Marin held nothing back. She didn’t know how. She clamped both hands over her mouth to stifle the scream as she orgasmed.

Loki allowed himself a low grunt as he orgasmed from her clenching walls. Spurt after spurt filled her and his eyes fluttered. But he did not allow them to close. He focused on her face full of rapture.

“I think I know what heaven feels like now. I think I know what stars look like.” Marin gasped when clarity returned to her.

“And what do they look like?” Loki asked, stroking her face.

“Bright, dazzling, ecstasy.” She stroked his face in return.

“You got that right.” Loki confirmed.


	3. Day Three: Departures

Day 3: Departures  
AHeckin’Mess: the house is on fire, what can’t you leave behind?

Loki  
He's a young prince troubled by restlessness. He travels to Alfheim and hears of a gathering. He steals a precious jewel, not for its value or because he desires treasure, but because he wants to watch the chaos when it comes up missing. 

For years, Loki tried to fill his role as second prince, until the restlessness drove him to seek adventure through the cosmos. Meeting Marin only makes the adventures more interesting. 

Marin  
She's a young woman, daughter of an elf laird, and blind. Her whole life, she's been told she's weak, frail, sickly, and hidden away "for protection". But her father has a secret. Long ago, an ancestor had a love affair with a dark elf and soiled the light elf lineage. They've been able to hide it through breeding, but every few generations, a child is born with dark elf traits. The laird isn't hiding her because of her blindness or supposed illness, but because of her white-blond hair and ice-blue eyes. 

For years, Marin bought into the lie of her sickliness until a prince stole from her father. Meeting Loki gives her an opportunity to break free and discover what she's really capable of.

**********

On Saturdays and special occasions, Marin was permitted to sit in the music room and listen to someone play an instrument. Today was a screeching string instrument. Marin wished it would be over soon. Then it would be naptime and she could see her secret lover again.

“Marin, don’t sigh and look so bored. It’s rude,” Vitri scolded.

“Your father gave me this Miolalin for our tenth anniversary. You can be a little more respectful than that,” Amiatta added, still chopping away at the instrument.

“I’m sorry, mother. I’m just tired. This music just lulls me to sleep.” Lying had come easier and easier to Marin after the first time.

“Oh dear, perhaps we should…”

“Naptime is not for another hour. You can pull through.” Amiatta interrupted the nurse-maid. 

Marin’s heart began to take flight when Vitri started to speak, but flopped at her mother’s decision. She did her best to not look bored while the current song ended and a new one began.

“It smells like smoke,” Marin announced.

“That’s the potpourri, child. Forest pine,” Vitri explained.

“No, this is different,” Marin insisted.

“Marin, stop interrupting. Don’t think you’re too frail to be punished,” Amiatta scolded. She continued playing the dreadful screeching music. Marin did her best to listen, but she couldn’t relax. She managed another few irritable moments.

“Surely, you hear that!” Marin declared. She stood up and took a step toward the door. “Voices… Lots of people are upset… panicking, I daresay.”

“Marin, sit down this instant! Act like a lady!” Amiatta snapped. Vitri jumped up and put a guiding hand on Marin’s arm. “Stop making up these wild fancies. You’re not getting out of this lesson.”

Marin had never been given to wild fancies and always did as she was told, even if she didn’t agree with it. And she craved whatever precious few moments her parents allowed with her. To be accused of such things wounded her deeply.

“I wouldn’t miss a moment with you, mother. But something is wrong and I won’t sit idly like a sick child waiting to be helped. Not any more!” She pulled gently away from Vitri and crossed the room to the closed door. Before she reached it, a servant burst in. His face was sweaty and his clothes were ashy. Heat rolled into the room and Marin could hear the cackling of hungry flames.

“My ladies! The house is on fire! I’m here to get you to safety,” the man announced. Marin’s heart rate was already up, but it seemed to climb with the confirmation of her fears. She turned her head to listen for the panicked breathing of her mother and nurse-maid. She didn’t wait for permission. She slipped past the servant and disappeared into the hallway.

The halls were full of disarray and confusion, people running about with little or no direction. Loki appeared out of nowhere beside Marin. “There you are, elfling! Come with me, your house is on fire.” He picked up her hand so she knew what direction he was taking her in.

“No, you come with me.” She tightened her hand on his and pulled in the opposite direction. Loki shrugged and went with her.

“Where are we going?” he asked above the din.

“I can’t leave it behind. It’s my life’s work.” Marin said vaguely. The air was getting hotter with every step. She stuck out a hand to feel the large wooden ball marking the top of the stairs and turned hard. She was moving faster than normal, so counted every step out loud. “12345678910111213.” Then she pulled left.

“Marin, what are you doing here? You can’t be on your own,” the laird shouted and grabbed her by the shoulders in his anxiety. “You, young lord, get my daughter out of here! Her lungs can’t take the smoke and excitement.” Loki let the laird make assumptions about his identity. He wasn’t ready to be arrested yet. But the laird disappeared into the crowd again yelling orders.

“The door is to the right, elfling,” Loki said with remarkable calmness. He always loved a bit of chaos, especially when he didn’t know it was coming.

“My bedroom is to the left,” Marin countered and continued pulling Loki along. The air was getting thicker. Even healthy lungs were subject to smoke damage. She found her door. The knob was cool. She twisted it open. There was a strange sound. “There’s fire in here.”

“The curtains… on the other side of the bed,” Loki informed her. Marin wasted no time. She dropped Loki’s hand and moved easily around her room, the space she’d spent most of her life hidden away from everyone else. She skirted around a potted plant and stooped to her knees before she hit the bed. She crawled underneath like she’d done every day for years. She coughed once, alarming Loki, before she pulled herself out again.

“I’ve got it! Come on, let’s get out of here.” She hurried to close the distance between them and grab Loki’s hand again. Loki resisted as a thought occurred to him. “What is it, princeling?”

“I’m going to leave a little mystery for the authorities.” He dug in his pocket and pulled out the trinket that started it all.

“The tanzanite?” Marin asked.

“They thought the thief escaped with the treasure. They’ll find it in the ashes and think it was simply lost all those months ago. I wonder if they’ll return it to its rightful owner.” Loki dropped it on the floor and watched it sparkle for a moment. Marin heard the thud of it hitting her carpet and pulled on Loki’s arm again. 

She stopped at the door, feeling the danger she couldn’t see. Flames reached the door and climbed up either side of the frame. “We can’t get out that way. It’s on fire.”

“The window is completely blocked by flame.” She stuck her hand out to feel. “There’s a cool part in the middle. We can make it out here.”

“Marin, it’s dangerous!” Loki cautioned.

“So is staying put!” She pulled again on his arm and held her breath as she passed through the burning door frame. She didn’t have to see to know the fire had spread a lot farther since they’d entered. Loki grabbed her sleeve and tore it off.

“Wrap this around your nose and mouth.” She did so quickly. People were screaming and crying. 

“You! Run upstairs and grab my jewelry!” Amiatta ordered. A beam cracked and fell above them, causing Marin to flinch into Loki. He put an arm around her.

“The way is blocked, m’lady!” the servant countered.

“Get out! Just get out and grab whatever valuables you can carry,” Amiatta revised. If she saw her daughter, she gave no indication of it. Marin moved through the commotion of anyone still trying to quench the flames. She navigated with sound and touch. A wave of heat told her to dodge left. Bickering voices told her how to navigate between them. Broken glass she couldn’t foresee crunched beneath her foot. Good thing she was wearing shoes.

“The door is close. Is it open?” She asked Loki. The cooler air in that direction should have told her so, but she couldn’t risk it.

“It is,” Loki answered briefly. Marin ran through it and stopped short.

“Marin! Marin, where are you?” Vitri’s panicked voice called out from the yard. Loki took over and pulled her away from the exasperated nurse-maid. “Marin, it’s you! Marin, come back!”

“We’re not safe yet,” Loki commented without stopping.

“Loki! Loki, stop! Where are we going?” Marin asked. She was much less familiar with the outside. She pulled the sleeve from her face and dropped it on the ground so she could breathe easier while she ran.

“I told you when we first met I could take you away from here where we could be free.” Loki didn’t stop, even when they reached the edge of the laird’s property. He eventually stopped running, but he maintained a fast walk and held tight to Marin’s hand.

“Loki, please tell me you have a plan.” It was farther than Marin had ever been. Though it was exciting, it was also terrifying. She could only make so much of her surroundings while Loki pulled her along. He was her anchor, so she gripped his hand as tightly as he gripped hers.

“Part of a plan,” Loki assured her, if that can be called assurance. He stopped and looked around. His free hand went up as though feeling. “Yes, this’ll do nicely.” Excitement surged through him and to his hand in hers. He squeezed her hand to remind her of their solid connection. His voice mirrored his excitement and anticipation. “Elfling, we’re about to walk the roots of Yggdrasil. I have no idea where we’ll end up. Are you ready for an adventure?”

Marin gulped. She was already so far lost she could never find her way home. She could either sit here waiting to be rescued and returned to her life as a sheltered invalid, or she could grab life by the balls. “After you, princeling!”


	4. Day Four: Cooperating

Day 4: Cooperating  
EmeraldRoseQuartz: skydiving

Loki   
He's a young prince troubled by restlessness. He travels to Alfheim and hears of a gathering. He steals a precious jewel, not for its value or because he desires treasure, but because he wants to watch the chaos when it comes up missing. 

For years, Loki tried to fill his role as second prince, until the restlessness drove him to seek adventure through the cosmos. Meeting Marin only makes the adventures more interesting. 

Marin   
She's a young woman, daughter of an elf laird, and blind. Her whole life, she's been told she's weak, frail, sickly, and hidden away "for protection". But her father has a secret. Long ago, an ancestor had a love affair with a dark elf and soiled the light elf lineage. They've been able to hide it through breeding, but every few generations, a child is born with dark elf traits. The laird isn't hiding her because of her blindness or supposed illness, but because of her white-blond hair and ice-blue eyes. 

For years, Marin bought into the lie of her sickliness until a prince stole from her father. Meeting Loki gives her an opportunity to break free and discover what she's really capable of.

**********

Falling! Falling! FALLING!!

One minute Marin was holding Loki’s hand and walking through the unknown, the next she was falling! She couldn’t see anything. All she could hear was the roaring wind threatening to break her ear drums. All she could feel was the force of gravity pushing her ever downward! Confused, terrified and disoriented, she let out a shrill scream.

“Marin! Marin!” Was that her name reaching through the roar? She stopped screaming to listen better. “Marin!”

“Loki?” She turned her body in the direction of his voice. The new position created a bit of wind resistance and she slowed down imperceptibly. 

Loki was above her, watching her tumble through the air. When she finally found wind resistance, he relaxed marginally. He streamlined his body and pointed himself toward her. For a moment, he fell faster than her, closing the gap between them. Then he flattened his body and found wind resistance so he could fall with her.

“Marin, I’m here!” Loki assured her as he took her hand. Marin still didn’t know where they were or why they were falling, but they were falling together, and that was better. A strange sound split the air.

“Loki? Are you laughing?” Marin asked with worry. She was relaxing enough with his glee to notice her dress flapping around her ankles, her face blowing out of proportion, her hair dragging behind her.

“Yes,” he answered between howls of laughter.

“Because of the rush!” he pulled her closer and turned them over so he was on bottom. “Hang onto me. We’re about to land, I’ll absorb the impact.” But facing up, he didn’t see where they were landing. Neither did Marin. She allowed Loki’s closeness to ground her and ease her fears.

Then that grounding became literal. Something caught her around the middle and she was suddenly very much not falling. The landing was very sudden and accompanied with much snapping and cracking. The wind was knocked out of her as she landed with her body bent in half over something she could not discern.

“Loki? What’s happening? Where are we?” Her lips trembled and her voice wavered as she tried not to give in to the mindless panic darkening the edges of her mind. Loki’s hand was once again not in hers and she couldn’t tell up from down.

“Where does it feel like we are?” Loki asked gently. Marin took an indignant breath. Of all the times for him to quiz her! But perhaps it was the best time, for the extra oxygen and concrete puzzle helped clear her head. She moved her limbs around. She could tell nothing from her feet as they dangled and swayed. Her hands were a little more informative.

“There’s a long thick beam I’m sort of resting on. It’s roundish… rough… like bark! Are we in a tree?” She wasn’t allowed to touch anything in her father’s garden, but that didn’t stop her from trying and memorizing every texture she could.

“Very good. Of all the things to catch us, a tree is quite fortuitous.” Loki was in his own precarious predicament a little higher up. His back rested on a larger branch, but his boot was stuck in a tangle above his head. Presumably, that tangle caused him to stop and Marin to keep going until they were no longer holding hands.

“You call this fortuitous? How do we get down?” Marin grumbled.

“I’m working on it.” Marin could hear the snapping and cracking of various sized twigs and branches while Loki disentangled himself. Then he sat on his branch and analyzed Marin’s predicament. “Ok, elfling. The ground is about six feet below you. You can--”

“Oh!” She cut him off as she had the same idea before he could explain it. She was only a few inches under six feet. “Arms, don’t fail me now.” She braced her arms on either side of her waist. The branch dragged roughly on her dress from her belly, ribs, breasts, chests, and finally her arms took her weight. But they weren’t very strong. Physical training was never included in her home education. She swung, dangled momentarily, and fell to her knees. “Ouch!”

“Marin?” Loki dropped lightly next to her.

“We made it!” She answered with the smallest of celebrations. “Please tell me we’re safe now.” Experiencing a house fire, portal roots, endless fall and tree crash all in the span of an hour tends to wear on the nerves. Marin took a moment to realize her nerves seemed as fine as Loki’s.

“We’re in no further immediate danger. But we’re exposed and without shelter. We can’t stay here.” Marin took a few shaky steps away from the lone tree and started assessing her surroundings.

“The ground is neither grass nor garden pebbles. Those are the only two outdoor floors I know. What is it?” She asked.

“Oh, it’s grass. It’s not the long, flowy grass you’re used to. This is short, stubby, dry grass. We seem to be in some sort of desert or predesert.” Loki informed her.

“Does the sun move toward the west or the north or…” She left the question hanging to include all cardinal directions.

“If this is the planet I think it is, the sun moves from east to west,” Loki supplied, letting her lead the assessment. 

“And is it morning or afternoon?” Marin asked. She turned her head to let a bit of hot air pull at her hair .As the adrenaline wore off, she finally noticed the woody smell of the tree and a hot, dry smell she didn’t recognize. Probably desert.

“Again, this is just a guess, but I think it’s afternoon,” Loki answered, watching her lily-white neck come exposed.

“Then we’re facing north. What planet do you think we’re on?” she asked, wiggling her feet in her shoes. They had soft soles and no ankle support, but she would do her best with what she had.

“Midgard. I was here a few centuries ago with other Asgardians. Primitive planet. The last time I was here, they’d only developed as far as living in wood huts and cooking their meat on open flame.” Loki reminisced for her benefit.

“Barbarians,” she agreed. “There’s a lot of sun here. Do you think it will damage my skin?” That was leftovers from the repetitions of her childhood.

“Not likely. This planet has a weak sun, just a little yellow ball. We might get hot, but nothing serious,” Loki assured her.

“Do you still have my notebook?” She recalled having handed it to him inside the portal tunnel.

“Still in my pocket.” He stroked the pocket and rustled the fabric for her benefit just to be sure.

“Do you have all of your possessions?” She checked to delay a little longer.

“All present and accounted for.” Loki stated confidently.

“Anything noteworthy we should head for? Or just north?” Marin asked, stalling again. Loki scanned the horizon.

“There might be a structure a few miles ahead. It’s hard to tell from this distance. It could be a rock in shadow.” Loki guessed.

“Ahead from where you’re facing, or where I’m facing?” Marin teased. Loki grabbed her hand for reassurance.

“Both.” Marin tore her other sleeve off and used it to tie her thick hair back, then took Loki’s hand decisively.

“Ok, to the rock in shadow.” It was the first time she’d been farther from home than her father’s garden. She felt equal parts trepidation and excitement. But having Loki beside her turned this from a nightmare to an adventure. They were aliens on an alien planet together. She stepped forward on the crunchy grass a little more confidently, and Loki was right beside her.


	5. Day Five: Inconspicuous

Day 5: Inconspicuous  
Dangertoozmanykids: hiding in plain life, pie, and Suzie-Bee’s Dinner Diner

Loki   
He's a young prince troubled by restlessness. He travels to Alfheim and hears of a gathering. He steals a precious jewel, not for its value or because he desires treasure, but because he wants to watch the chaos when it comes up missing. 

For years, Loki tried to fill his role as second prince, until the restlessness drove him to seek adventure through the cosmos. Meeting Marin only makes the adventures more interesting. 

Marin   
She's a young woman, daughter of an elf laird, and blind. Her whole life, she's been told she's weak, frail, sickly, and hidden away "for protection". But her father has a secret. Long ago, an ancestor had a love affair with a dark elf and soiled the light elf lineage. They've been able to hide it through breeding, but every few generations, a child is born with dark elf traits. The laird isn't hiding her because of her blindness or supposed illness, but because of her white-blond hair and ice-blue eyes. 

For years, Marin bought into the lie of her sickliness until a prince stole from her father. Meeting Loki gives her an opportunity to break free and discover what she's really capable of.

**********

“What are you doing, elfling?” Loki asked softly. The room was quiet, and Loki honored that as he walked soft-footed across the room. Marin’s sensitive ears could still discern his footsteps where she sat on the bed facing the open window.

“Princeling,” she greeted in her own soft tone. “I’m enjoying the wind.”

“Does it feel the same as the wind on Alfheim?” Loki stopped close enough she could feel his presence. He put a hand on her arm and leaned down to kiss her bare shoulder.

“I could ask the same of you, you were there,” she smirked and leaned into his touch. “It does feel the same. And it sounds the same. But it doesn’t smell the same.”

“How does it smell?” He sits down beside her and kisses her collar bone. She shivers under the sensuous touch.

“It smells… dirtier,” she supplies while searching for a nicer descriptor. “Not as dirty as that loud city we ended up in when we finally left that ranger’s station in the desert. That place was horrible! So glad we left. But it still smells like refuse and crude oil. Home smells better,” she concluded nostalgically. A gust of wind whistled softly before it passed through the window and ruffled their hair. Loki turned his head to contemplate the wind for himself.

“It smells better on Asgard, too. It smells of sweat and arrogance, but it’s still cleaner.” Marin chuckled at the description.

“Alfheim smells of woods and tradition,” she offered in his style.

“Insufferable tradition!” Loki chuckled with her. She put her head on his shoulder so he would put his arm around her.

“I’m trying to remember what the wind looks like,” she admitted after a brief silence.

“Remember?” Loki asked, puzzled by the strange phrase.

“I wasn’t always blind. I can remember I used to be able to see, but I don’t remember what seeing looks like. Sometimes, I try to remember,” Marin explained. Loki smiled fondly, always loving new information about his lover.

“Well, I regret to inform you, it’s a pointless task with the wind,” he sighed. “Wind is invisible.”

“It is?” Marin cocked her head in curiosity at the news.

“It is. We can see leaves and debris carried along by the wind. We can see objects like trees and flags affected by the wind. But the wind itself is invisible. I can’t see it any more than you can.” Marin was quiet a moment as she took in this information. Then she surprised Loki. “Thank you for educating me, and believing I can understand.” She leaned in and pecked him on the cheek.

“Thank you for thinking the best of me.” He tilted her head up with a finger under her chin and kissed her with open lips. “Come on, it’s nearly time for dinner.”

\----

Marin loved being able to go outside without a shawl and parasol being thrust upon her. She loved feeling everything the environment had to offer, even if it was a little uncomfortable. She enjoyed the sun soaking into her arms and shoulders as they walked hand-in-hand down the residential street. The sounds and smells of the alien town were invigorating. She and Loki had developed a game. When they walk down the street, they use their available senses to try and guess what’s around them.

A flowery fragrance bombarded Marin’s nose. Someone had told her it comes from a purple bush. “Hyacinth?”

“Honeysuckle,” Loki corrected. A man on a two-wheeled, self-propelled vehicle passed by. “Bun… bar… bye…” Loki tried to recall the name.

“Bicycle,” Marin recalled. She only had the distinctive clicking of the gears to inform her.

The laugh of children playing and a distant no fair…  
The waft of someone grilling… with charcoal…  
The loud growl of the mechanical beasts this dominant species travels with and the grungy odor that made them both cough…

Marin felt the wet mist on her skin before she heard the tss-tss-tss of the sprinkler. Then she heard something that made her tense and freeze.

“Woo-woo! Woo-woo-woooo!” Marin squeezed Loki’s hand in her anxiety.

“Loki, did you know this planet also has decco birds?” She turned her head to try and gauge the creature’s distance.

“Decco bird? I don’t see one. They’re pretty large and have tell-tale signs.” Loki looked around too, just in case.

“But it sounded just like one!” Loki reinforced his grip on Marin’s hand when he spotted the large and floppy dog running toward them.

“Woo-woo-woooo!” Marin gasped and tensed as she heard the sound again.

“Marin, don’t move. It’s not a decco bird. It’s a dog.” He pushed the elf behind him and held up his hand palm out to distract the dog.

“A what?” The distraction worked and the dog came to a sliding halt. He studied the hand. Loki moved it around to hold the dog’s attention.

“Oooo, steady,” he cooed at it, hoping to calm it.

“Rocket! Rocket, there you are!” A sweaty and disheveled man came running up.

“Woo-woo-woo-woo!” Rocket greeted his master.

“Is this your charge?” Loki asked the man.

“Yes, my pet, Rocket,” he answered. He wiped his forehead with his hand, and Loki spotted the leash.

“This animal suffers from a lack of discipline. He gave my partner quite a scare.” Marin still trembled as something large and undefined brushed against her long skirt and made her feel off balance.

“Help,” she whimpered when the something started sniffing her crotch.

“I’m sorry. He’s really impossible,” the man explained. He made a move to grab Rocket’s coller, but he was already moving away from the scared woman.

“The only thing that makes an animal untrainable is the lack of dedication from the person doing the training. Whoah! No you don’t!” Loki flinched and crossed his arms in front of him when Rocket started sniffing his crotch. Rocket backed up and tilted his head curiously. Loki snapped his fingers to get the dog’s attention. “Sit!” He commanded with princely force. To the master’s astonishment, Rocket sat.

Loki turned and held a hand out to Marin. “Come here, elfling. Learn about the dog.” Marin shuffled forward slowly. Loki took her hand and guided her forward until she could feel the head. Marin hesitantly felt the head and recognized fur. Rocket turned his head to lick her arm affectionately.

“So this is a dog… a pet?” she asked with more hesitation.

“Aren’t you a strange one. Who’s never seen a dog before?” the man pondered.

“Someone who’s never seen anything,” Loki snapped, offended on Marin’s behalf. “Come on, elfling, dinner awaits.” Loki pulled her away and walked a whole block before he calmed down to his normal demeanor.

“I’m sorry,” she sighed. “I know we’re supposed to be blending in.”

“I’m not angry with you. Don’t worry about it.” Loki tried to brush it off. The sounds and smells changed as they transitioned from residential to commercial. Loki felt surreal again as he looked around the quaint little downtown, like playing one of his old holoprograms.

“I want to worry about it. Perhaps I can help,” Marin objected. Loki guided her away from the street and pulled open the door with the familiar tinkling bell. He let the change of environment and new stimuli distract her rather than answering her.

“Loki, Marin! Welcome back.” A plump, cheerful woman greeted them from behind the counter. 

“Hi, Suzie! Do you have something new for me to try?” Marin called back. Loki watched closely as Marin attempted the familiar walk on her own. Tables were scattered, but it was a straight walk from the door to the counter. As long as no one stands up…

Marin’s legs were hit the same moment she heard the scraping of chair legs on the floor. “Hey, watch it!” A boy’s voice snapped.

“I’m sorry,” Marin said, trying to maintain her orientation.

“You should be! You disturbed my son,” an unpleasant woman’s voice jumped in. Old habits started to assert themselves. Marin was helpless and defenseless, she should wait for someone to rescue her.

Loki was concerned, too, and stepped forward. But Marin didn’t give him a chance to speak. I do not need to be rescued! She yelled at herself. “It was not my intention,” she answered the hostile woman in a gentle tone.

“You weren’t watching where you were going,” the woman snapped. “Apologize.”

“Yeah, apologize,” the boy joined in smugly.

“I cannot watch where I am going. The young man can, however. He should have been more careful pushing his chair away from the table.” Loki felt a surge of pride as Marin handled the situation. Suzie also showed concern as she moved from behind the counter prepared to help.

The boy gasped as he looked at the tall woman. “Wait, you’re blind?” All sharpness was gone from his tone. “Mom, she’s blind! Here.” He pushed his chair back in. “The way is clear to the counter.” The woman was silent in the wake of her son’s revelation.

“Thank you.” Marin passed by and continued to the counter. She felt for the round leather barstool and sat down. Loki joined her. It was another awkward moment before everyone returned to their business.

“How do you feel about ravioli?” Suzie asked as she moved back behind the counter.

“As a name? It sounds fun to say. Ravioli. What is it?” Marin asked, trying to drown out the din of silverware on plates and pots on stoves. Sometimes, if she doesn’t focus, the important noises can get drowned out.

“It’s a noodle stuffed with meat and cheese,” Suzie explained.

“Sounds like Manunda,” Marin guessed. That was something from Alfheim, so the Midgardian version probably tasted nothing like it.

“I’ll get you a bowl. You can decide for yourself. One for you, too, Loki?” Suzie checked.

“Yes, please, Suzie,” he confirmed. He was busy staring fondly at Marin. He took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles.

“What is it, princeling,” Marin asked fondly.

“I’m proud of you. The Marin I met in that stuffy old estate would never have done what you did today,” he explained.

“She might have, if she was allowed to do anything for herself,” Marin answered wistfully.

A few minutes later, Suzie was back sliding heavy bowls in front of them. “Ravioli for you. It’s in a bowl. You should eat it with a fork.” Marin felt around for her fork, then felt around for the edges of the bowl. She stabbed the fork down and pulled it back up with a tiny pillow on it. 

“What shape is it?” she asked, touching the edges with her free hand. “Square?” Suzie made a ghastly and offended look that Marin couldn’t see. Loki could.

“Elfling,” he warned softly. “I don’t think they touch their food here.”

“Not this food! You’ve got sauce all over your fingers!” Marin gasped at her error and started feeling around for a napkin. “Stop, stop! You’re spreading sauce and making a mess.” Suzie seemed to transform into Vitri. The resemblance grew stronger when Suzie grabbed Marin’s hand and wiped the sauce off her fingers. Marin let her hand fall into her lap and waited for Vitri to start feeding her.

“I’m sorry, I’m still learning,” she sighed. Loki watched patiently. She’d stood up for herself magnificently against strangers, she could resolve a conflict with a friend.

“Well, no sense pouting about it. Here’s your napkin. Now you know, it’ll be easier to eat.” Suzie didn’t try to feed her. She didn’t blame Marin for being helpless and frail. She didn’t turn into Vitri after all. Marin picked up her fork and took her first bite.

“Mmm! It’s really good! Is the sauce based on tomato?” she asked heartily. Loki took his first bite.

“Wow, the flavors really get along.” Suzie watched their faces light up. It was her favorite part of owning the diner.

They ate steadily through their meal. Suzie had plenty of guests to keep her busy, but she regularly stopped back to chat with the couple. She could only chuckle when Marin recounted her harrowing experience meeting Rocket.

“Are you ready for dessert?” Suzie asked when she noticed their bowls were empty.

“Of course! What’s the pie of the day?” Loki asked eagerly.

“Lemon meringue,” Suzie informed them while she cleared away their dishes.

“Lemon is a fruit,” Marin recalled. “So the pie has chunks of lemon in it like cherry pie did?”

“Not quite. It uses lemon juice in the custard to add color and flavor,” Suzie clarified.

“What’s the custard?” Loki asked, equally confused.

“It’s sort of like a gelatin, but thicker and creamer.” Seeing they were still confused, Suzie elaborated. “It’s smooth and well-blended.”

“Like that orange pie we had a couple of weeks ago?” Loki recalled.

“Sweet potato pie, that’s right, sort of.” She finally put the pies down in front of them.

“Now, Marin is at a disadvantage here. I can see there’s a yellow layer and a white layer,” Loki pointed out.

“Two layers?” Marin repeated.

“They yellow layer (on the bottom),” she added for Marin’s sake. “Is the lemon custard. The top layer is the meringue.”

“What’s the meringue?” Marin asked, longing to feel the difference between the layers and knowing it’ll only get her in trouble.

“It’s, um… like whipped cream, only far better,” Suzie explained uncertainly. Sometimes it was hard to be accurate, so she tried for just close enough.

“Here goes nothing!” Loki and Marin had been coming here for pie every night for a couple months. Her first pie was quite awkward and required a lot of questions and experimenting. Pie-eating was old hat by now. Marin took her first bite and her face lit up. “Tangy and sweet! I can feel the different textures of the two layers.”

Loki took a bite next and his face puckered. “Sour!” Suzie laughed at him. But now that he knew what to expect, subsequent bites were more pleasurable. “How did there get to be so many different kinds of pie?”

“Well, pie is basically a simple crust with whatever you want to put in it. Lots of different people with lots of different tastes and a bunch of creativity found different things to put in the crusts. We’re still discovering pie fillings.” Suzie explained fondly while she watched them.

“I can’t believe we don’t have this where I’m from,” Marin enthused.

“Nor where I’m from,” Loki tacked on. “This is why I travel.”


	6. Day Six: Irritations

Day 6: Irritations  
Dangertoozmanykids: What is that noise? (At limits, must be stopped)

Loki   
He's a young prince troubled by restlessness. He travels to Alfheim and hears of a gathering. He steals a precious jewel, not for its value or because he desires treasure, but because he wants to watch the chaos when it comes up missing. 

For years, Loki tried to fill his role as second prince, until the restlessness drove him to seek adventure through the cosmos. Meeting Marin only makes the adventures more interesting. 

Marin   
She's a young woman, daughter of an elf laird, and blind. Her whole life, she's been told she's weak, frail, sickly, and hidden away "for protection". But her father has a secret. Long ago, an ancestor had a love affair with a dark elf and soiled the light elf lineage. They've been able to hide it through breeding, but every few generations, a child is born with dark elf traits. The laird isn't hiding her because of her blindness or supposed illness, but because of her white-blond hair and ice-blue eyes. 

For years, Marin bought into the lie of her sickliness until a prince stole from her father. Meeting Loki gives her an opportunity to break free and discover what she's really capable of.

**********

The dark room posed no problem for the couple as hands roamed each other’s bodies. Moans both baritone and soprano filled the darkness along with the wet and juicy sounds of kissing.

Scritch-scritch

“So soft. How does your skin alone excite me?” Loki moaned between kisses.

“I was just thinking the same thing,” Marin chuckled. “Your skin is smooth and your muscles are taught. It reminds me of a snake.”

“Oh? Did your jailors allow you to hold such dangerous animals?” Loki teased.

“Gracious no! But Vitri read to me and…” scritch-scritch She stopped and lifted her head off the pillow to listen.

“What is it?” Loki asked when she stopped talking. Marin turned her head to listen, but shook her head when the noise didn’t repeat.

“Nothing. Where were we?” She ran her hands up and down Loki’s back and squeezed his cheeks.

“Ooh, I like that, do it again.” He ran his fingers up her hips and pulled one leg over his hip. He wandered until he felt her outer labia. He was well rewarded with her gasp of pleasure. She squeezed his butt cheeks again.

“Such soft lips. Are they ready to be fed?” He teased as he pulled them gently apart.

“Yes, hungry for…” scritch-scritch She stopped and lifted her head again.

“What, elfling? Something is distracting you,” Loki questioned, lifting his own head.

“A noise… do you hear it?” Marin asked, turning her head to try and pin the location.

“No… what kind of noise?” Loki asked for clarification.

“Scratching.” The sound didn’t repeat all the while she tried to discern it. Loki stayed very quiet to try and hear it himself.

“I don’t hear it, love,” he stated and pulled her back down.

“Maybe I’m just imagining it.” She laid down with him and put her leg back on his hip, but she couldn’t relax. She’d never imagined sounds before.

“Shall we continue?” Loki asked amorously. He kissed her greedily to regain the mood.

Scritch-scritch-scritch

“You have to hear that! Is it in the closet?” Marin pulled away and rolled out of bed. She felt the bed on one side of her and the window on the other to help orient her, then she walked steadily to the closet at the foot of the bed.

“Marin! Do you have to do this now?” Loki asked irritably as he sat up to watch.

“Just give me a moment. Hold that thought.” She listened intently and even felt around on the shelves. The sound did not repeat through her search.

“Hmm, the thought of your hot cunt sucking in my hard cock until I bottom out,” Loki purrs, hoping to regain her attention. Marin giggled and stepped out of the closet again.

“That’s the thought,” she confirmed amorously.

Scritch-scritch

“Perhaps it’s on the other side of the wall,” she guessed, distracted again.

“What, in the bathroom?” Loki spat, frustration taking over momentarily. He sighed and stood up. “Alright, let’s go find it.”

“Thank you, princeling,” she purred and led the way. She grabbed her robe and wrapped it around herself on the way out of the room. Loki had no scruples about such things.

“Of all the times to go on a wild goose chase,” Loki grumbled as he followed.

“If it is a goose, can we keep it as a pet?” Marin asked with a giggle. She didn’t think it was a goose.

“Sure, elfling. You’ll have your very own goose.” Loki leaned on the doorframe while Marin checked all around the sink and the mirror and the medicine cabinet.

Scritch-scritch… scritch-scritch

“I can’t believe it’s taking so long,” Loki whined.

“I can’t believe you can’t hear that!” Marin retorted. She sighed in defeat and turned toward Loki.

“Not finding it? Ready to return to bed?” He asked, pulling her in and pecking her face and neck with kisses. Marin tried to re-engage. She even moaned at his attentions.

“Perhaps we won’t return to the bedroom. I could take you right here.” He pushed her against the cabinet in his eagerness. Marin lifted herself onto the counter and invited him between her legs.

Scritch-scritch

Marin moaned louder, trying to drown out the elusive noise. Her traditional come-backs failed her in her distraction.

Scritch-scritch

“I think this cabinet can hold up under our weight,” Loki continued, rutting against her thigh. “And if we’re too hard, we’ll just replace it.”

“Uh-huh,” Marin offered, trying to submit to the passion of the moment.

Scritch-scritch

“Ugh! It won’t stop! Is it coming from the basement?” She pushed Loki off her so she could stand up again.

“Marin, there is no noise!” Loki insisted. “Scratching or otherwise. Trust me. Asgardians have very keen hearing, and mine is sharper than most.”

“Yes… I know… but… well… No offense, but you don’t have elf ears.” Marin held back for a moment, those old habits trained into her from her previous life echo in her mind. Then she pushed past it and expressed her thoughts. Loki had a hard time admitting his species wasn’t the best at everything. But he loved Marin, and he really wanted sex.

“Lead on,” he sighed with a wave of his elegant fingers.

The moment Marin left the bathroom, the scratching stopped. But she didn’t let that deter her. It had been intermittent from the start. It would start again, and she’d find it.

“Come on.” She led the way through the kitchen and down the basement stairs. Loki pulled a string and turned a light on with a click. Marin might be able to navigate in the dark, but he found it easier in the light.

“Do you know what you’re looking for?” Loki asked, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her neck again. “I know what I’m looking for.”

“Something that makes a scratching sound,” is all she could supply. She leaned briefly into Loki. She searched by the wall of built-in shelving.

“I’m searching for something that makes a sloshing, slapping sound,” Loki moaned and groped her breasts. “It’s hot and wet.”

“Mmm, I want that, too, princeling… after.” She searched by the clothes cleaning station, her description of the washer and dryer.

“Someplace snug for this,” he followed her and ground his hard cock against her butt cheek.

“Loki,” she purred and pressed into him. “Soon.” She searched over by the utility box.

“Now,” Loki begged, dragging her hand to rub his cock while she searched. “Or must we search the whole house?”

“I don’t hear it any more. I can’t find it if I can’t hear it.” She stroked him absently, loving the feel of him while she strained her ears.

“Maybe it’s gone,” Loki offered hopefully. “Maybe the situation that created it has changed so it’s not happening any more.”

“Maybe,” she allowed doubtfully. “Come on.” She led him by the cock back upstairs to the kitchen. Loki allowed her.

“Finally, the master is weeping.” Marin ran her thumb through the precum on Loki’s tip and giggled.

“Oh, my! We must help the master... What is that!?!” Marin growled. They reached the top of the stairs ready for intimate action when the noise hit her ears again. Marin dropped Loki’s cock at the same time of her outburst.

“Oh! Marin, come on!” He reached for her hand to return it to his aching rod, but she stepped away.

Scritch-scritch, scritch-scritch

“It’s in here! It’s in this room!” Marin declared. “Can you hear it now?”

Scritch-scritch

“No, I can’t. I can hear the blood rushing in my veins.” Loki’s frustration was reaching its peak. “Won’t you give it up?”

Scritch-scritch

“I can’t. It’s so close.” She searched around her -- inside the stove, in drawers and cabinets, wherever she could think to look. She was too irritated to focus on where exactly it was coming from, but it was close. No, it was above her! She faced the long line of cupboards and opened the last one.

Scritch-scritch

“Are you satisfied? It’s not in here,” Loki pouted. He could see on most of the shelves and he saw nothing he didn’t expect.

Scritch-scritch

“It is here,” Marin countered with quiet excitement. She reached above her head, onto the top-most shelf that Loki couldn’t easily see. There was a brief scrabble and squeaking, but Marin was lightning fast. Her hand found something like a thin fleshy rope. She pulled it down, only to feel unexpected weight. The creature it was attached to screamed and writhed for freedom. It tried to scratch and bite her hand, but it couldn’t quite reach.

“What? Where did that come from?” Loki asked, flabbergasted. “You were right all along, there was something scratching. A rat. I wonder what it was eating? I’ll have to get up there and find its hole. You must have caught it as it was trying to escape.” Marin allowed herself a smug smile, but refused to say I told you so.

“Will you dispose of this? Without killing it?” She asked and waited for Loki to take it.

“Of course! Then we can put this behind us.” He took the rat by the scruff, causing it to freeze as though paralized. He pecked her cheek before turning toward the back door.

“I’ll wait for you in the bedroom, pretending my legs hate each other,” she purred in response.


End file.
